Zusammenfassung: | Ice damage to canopy trees was surveyed after a major ice storm on Virginia Tech's Fishburn Forest in the central Appalachian Mountain region The survey site was stratified according to aspect, slope, and slope position, and sample plots were randomly chosen within each topographic category In general, Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana Mill) and pitch pine (P rigida Mill) were the most damaged, and blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica Marsh.) was the most resistant species Although yellow buckeye (Aesculus octandra Marsh) and yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.) were basically undamaged, they were restricted to the topographic areas where ice damage was generally less severe Within a species, susceptibility varied according to topographic features In general, the greatest damage occurred on steep slopes and eastern aspects, and the least damage occurred on toeslopes (foothill and valley bottom) Some species, such as red maple, varied greatly in their susceptibility to ice damage between topographic categories, while others, like blackgum, varied little Dominant canopy individuals generally had less damage than co-dominant and intermediate individuals These results suggest that damage by ice storms is patchy at local scales, and that the distribution of damage may be predictable
|